Sixteen-year-old Eleanor Weir held her right leg out in front of her, arched that foot and brought her toes delicately down to the floor, then back up again. She was pretending that the floor was a cat, and she was trying to pet it with her foot. "Yup, bup, bup, bup" guest teacher Gerard Charles said, counting out the beat at Towson's Carver Center for Arts & Technology. Eleanor and 27 other cat petters in training were taking an intermediate-level ballet class with Charles, the ballet master for the Joffrey Ballet.

Sixteen-year-old Eleanor Weir held her right leg out in front of her, arched that foot and brought her toes delicately down to the floor, then back up again. She was pretending that the floor was a cat, and she was trying to pet it with her foot. "Yup, bup, bup, bup" guest teacher Gerard Charles said, counting out the beat at Towson's Carver Center for Arts & Technology. Eleanor and 27 other cat petters in training were taking an intermediate-level ballet class with Charles, the ballet master for the Joffrey Ballet.

One of Santa's helpers, a man who tilts at windmills, and Toto, too, will be part of the 2013-2014 season of the Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric. One of the country's most distinguished dance companies, the Joffrey Ballet, is also scheduled. Based on the hit film of the same name, "Elf" is a musical with a score by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, a book by Thomas Meehan (his credits include "Hairspray") and Bob Martin. The family show, which has been a presence at holiday time on Broadway, will play the Lyric Nov. 22 to Nov. 24. The plot follows the adventures of an orphan who winds up working with the other elves at the North Pole, figures out he's human, and heads to New York to find his father and, of course, what is invariably called the true spirit of Christmas.

One of Santa's helpers, a man who tilts at windmills, and Toto, too, will be part of the 2013-2014 season of the Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric. One of the country's most distinguished dance companies, the Joffrey Ballet, is also scheduled. Based on the hit film of the same name, "Elf" is a musical with a score by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, a book by Thomas Meehan (his credits include "Hairspray") and Bob Martin. The family show, which has been a presence at holiday time on Broadway, will play the Lyric Nov. 22 to Nov. 24. The plot follows the adventures of an orphan who winds up working with the other elves at the North Pole, figures out he's human, and heads to New York to find his father and, of course, what is invariably called the true spirit of Christmas.

Megan Levin may have flat feet, but she sure keeps on her toes.The 13-year-old Ellicott City native just spent a week performing with the renowned Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in Washington. She's looking forward to the day when touring with such a company might become a way of life.But turning professional probably won't be a big surprise for this dark-haired slip of a girl. She's been dancing since she was 3 years old."I decided to turn serious when I was about 8," says Megan with aplomb, as her parents, Kim and Mark Levin, look on proudly.

The Joffrey Ballet (now of Chicago) has always been a ballet company willing to embrace the works of modern choreographers. It was the first to catapult Twyla Tharp and Laura Dean into the ballet stratosphere.The company continues its tradition in recent performances at the Kennedy Center with the East Coast premiere of Mahmet Sander's "Inner Space" and two excerpts by Dean wonderfully balanced with two dances by the company's artistic director, Gerald Arpino.It is rare for an opening number to be performed with exuberance and skill, but "Suite Saint-Saens," choreographed by Arpino, was so brilliantly danced that several audience members jumped to their feet.

Richard Englund, 59, a director with the Joffrey Ballet who was a member of the dance panel for the National Endowment for the Arts, died of cancer Friday in New York. In 1970, he founded the Dance Repertory Company, which was renamed the Ballet Repertory Company. He was appointed director of the Joffrey II Dancers in 1985.Alex M. Clark, 74, who at age 34 became the youngest mayor of Indianapolis, died Thursday in Argentina after a head injury while returning from a cruise. Mr. Clark, a Republican, was elected the city's 39th mayor in 1951.

Fritzie Sahlins, who helped develop the improvisational theater troupe Second City, died of cancer Saturday in Chicago at the age of 66. A native of Germany, she married Bernard Sahlins, Second City's founder, in 1944.Bob Parkinson, 67, who helped build what's described as the largest circus archive in the world, died Thursday after undergoing heart surgery in Madison, Wis. He oversaw the library at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wis. He joined the museum in 1965 and expanded the library from a small collection to include thousands of circus lithographs and a card catalog with the names of circus performers from Colonial times to the present.

Every ballet company has an artistic signature, and for the Joffrey Ballet, which opened a six-day engagement at theKennedy Center yesterday, the signature could be the Roman god Janus, capable of at once looking at the past and the future.Founded by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, the company has focused on works from the past as well as those created by emerging choreographers. In fact, hard-core dance fans will find this combination hard to resist: The mixed program contains two dances by Leonide Massine (more noted for their place in history than choreographic content)

Just a few days before their live performances of "The Nutcracker," the intensity and concentration were evident on the faces of the teenage performers at the Carroll County Dance Center in Sykesville. Each of the cast members at this rehearsal had previously performed in the legendary play, and there was a serious overtone to their latest production. This weekend, their steady rehearsal schedule will give way to the center's full-scale presentation of Tchaikovsky's classic. After two years at the Gordon Center in Owings Mills, "The Nutcracker" will return to the local stage on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 4 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 16, 2 p.m. Both performances will be held at the Carroll Community College's Scott Theater, 1601 Washington Road, Westminster.

By KAREN NITKIN and KAREN NITKIN,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | December 11, 2005

Severna Park High School has let out for the day, and about 10 girls are in the school's dance studio, kicking and twirling in unison as "Santa Baby" booms through the small room. They are rehearsing for a school concert scheduled for Thursday. Senior Lindsay Moore is among them. She has been dancing since she was in preschool, and she hopes to be a Rockette some day. Recently, her ambitions took a step forward (or should that be a jete?) when she won a four-week summer scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School in New York.

Megan Levin may have flat feet, but she sure keeps on her toes.The 13-year-old Ellicott City native just spent a week performing with the renowned Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in Washington. She's looking forward to the day when touring with such a company might become a way of life.But turning professional probably won't be a big surprise for this dark-haired slip of a girl. She's been dancing since she was 3 years old."I decided to turn serious when I was about 8," says Megan with aplomb, as her parents, Kim and Mark Levin, look on proudly.

By J.L. Conklin and J.L. Conklin,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | December 19, 1996

Even with the abundance of "Nutcrackers" this season, it wasn't difficult selecting the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre as the one to see. This quickly growing company has been building up steam ever since it was fortified with several Russian dancers from the Kirov and Bolshoi ballets as well as performers from Ballet West and the Joffrey Ballet. Last weekend's performance showed Baltimore just how good a regional ballet company can be.Every "Nutcracker" is different; the music may be the same, but the artistic interpretation varies from choreographer to choreographer.

The Joffrey Ballet (now of Chicago) has always been a ballet company willing to embrace the works of modern choreographers. It was the first to catapult Twyla Tharp and Laura Dean into the ballet stratosphere.The company continues its tradition in recent performances at the Kennedy Center with the East Coast premiere of Mahmet Sander's "Inner Space" and two excerpts by Dean wonderfully balanced with two dances by the company's artistic director, Gerald Arpino.It is rare for an opening number to be performed with exuberance and skill, but "Suite Saint-Saens," choreographed by Arpino, was so brilliantly danced that several audience members jumped to their feet.

By J.L. Conklin and J.L. Conklin,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | December 19, 1996

Even with the abundance of "Nutcrackers" this season, it wasn't difficult selecting the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre as the one to see. This quickly growing company has been building up steam ever since it was fortified with several Russian dancers from the Kirov and Bolshoi ballets as well as performers from Ballet West and the Joffrey Ballet. Last weekend's performance showed Baltimore just how good a regional ballet company can be.Every "Nutcracker" is different; the music may be the same, but the artistic interpretation varies from choreographer to choreographer.

Just a few days before their live performances of "The Nutcracker," the intensity and concentration were evident on the faces of the teenage performers at the Carroll County Dance Center in Sykesville. Each of the cast members at this rehearsal had previously performed in the legendary play, and there was a serious overtone to their latest production. This weekend, their steady rehearsal schedule will give way to the center's full-scale presentation of Tchaikovsky's classic. After two years at the Gordon Center in Owings Mills, "The Nutcracker" will return to the local stage on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 4 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 16, 2 p.m. Both performances will be held at the Carroll Community College's Scott Theater, 1601 Washington Road, Westminster.

Every ballet company has an artistic signature, and for the Joffrey Ballet, which opened a six-day engagement at theKennedy Center yesterday, the signature could be the Roman god Janus, capable of at once looking at the past and the future.Founded by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, the company has focused on works from the past as well as those created by emerging choreographers. In fact, hard-core dance fans will find this combination hard to resist: The mixed program contains two dances by Leonide Massine (more noted for their place in history than choreographic content)

Fritzie Sahlins, who helped develop the improvisational theater troupe Second City, died of cancer Saturday in Chicago at the age of 66. A native of Germany, she married Bernard Sahlins, Second City's founder, in 1944.Bob Parkinson, 67, who helped build what's described as the largest circus archive in the world, died Thursday after undergoing heart surgery in Madison, Wis. He oversaw the library at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wis. He joined the museum in 1965 and expanded the library from a small collection to include thousands of circus lithographs and a card catalog with the names of circus performers from Colonial times to the present.